


Promise me not to fade away

by smaragdbird



Category: Long Live the Queen (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Pregnancy, expanded from the epilogue were talarist and elodie are happy, happy relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-23 02:10:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20884436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/pseuds/smaragdbird
Summary: When Talarist left his wife to attend the court in Talasse, she had been sick and tired and for the past weeks he had been able to think of nothing but how badly he wanted to return to her.To his Queen.





	Promise me not to fade away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mireia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mireia/gifts).

The monkey’s chattering was getting on his nerves but Talarist knew himself well enough that the true cause for his restlessness lay elsewhere. Namely in the capital of Nova and hopefully in their bed, getting the rest she needed.

Elodie had not been feeling well when he had left, a bone deep exhaustion that had left her sleeping most hours of the day and barely able to focus when she was awake. If his presence in Talasse hadn’t been absolutely mandatory, he would not have left her side. 

As it stood, he had been irritable and taciturn throughout the court session which the other nobles had only tolerated because he was the Queen consort of Nova. He hoped the monkey would bring a smile back to Elodie’s face if nothing else. She loved animals and monkeys were supposed to make good pets.

He was supposed to stop over for the night but when they reached the hamlet of Givle, Talarist asked for a change of horses instead. Sleeping in the carriage would be uncomfortable but he would rather be home sooner than later.

Elodie’s mother had died young as well and while Talarist knew she had died in a duel; he couldn’t help but worry if Elodie’s state had something to do with her powers. Lumens were a rarity in Talasse, thought to have been eradicated by the lumen hunts two hundred years ago.

Talarist didn’t think he had ever talked to a Lumen outside of Nova and he understood little of how it worked. He knew it ran in Elodie’s family, her aunt and her cousin were Lumen as well, but neither them nor Elodie had been able to explain how it worked. He knew they drew their energy from a crystal bonded to them and he had seen the immense power Elodie could unleash, but how could they be sure that there wasn’t a price to pay for this gift?

Elodie’s duel with the Emperor of Shanjia was the foundation for legends. Talarist had heard many variations of it, including what Elodie had told him. It must have been a spectacle to witness but it must have also been draining. Who was to say, she wasn’t paying for her victory now, ten years later?

When he had left, Elodie had been asleep, looking pale and vulnerable in their bed and Talarist almost hadn’t found the will to leave her there. A handful of letters had reached him in Talasse, all of them reassuring him that Elodie was faring better. However, he doubted that Lucille or Joslyn would tell him the truth about Elodie’s health in a letter than could easily end up in the wrong hands by mistake or deliberate mischief.

His worries and the rattling of the carriage kept him up through most of the night.

/

The early morning sun woke him just as the carriage was entering the palace grounds. Eventually his body had given in to the exhaustion from a long journey and he had fallen asleep. Now he wished he had taken a horse instead of a wagon, anything to be home faster.

For two years now he called the palace his home and he had never been more relieved to see it. 

As he finally left the carriage, Talarist gave a few short commands to the servants and guards and then walked inside as quickly as possible. 

To his surprise and joy, Elodie greeted him just as he entered. She looked completely transformed since the last time he had seen her, shining with life and a smile on her lips.

“You’re up early.”

“And it’s your fault”, she replied as she walked down the staircase.

“My fault?” He raised an eyebrow. Had a rider been dispatched from Givle to inform the palace of him travelling throughout the night? 

“Your fault”, she repeated as she stopped in front of him. Elodie’s smile widened as she took his hand and placed it on her belly. Her firm and rounded belly. “Your child’s been kicking me all night as if they knew you were coming.”

Talarist let out a relieved laugh and drew her into his arms, holding her as tightly as he dared. “I was so scared for you.”

“I know. Me, too.” He could hear the tremble in her voice and knew that the months apart couldn’t have been any easier for her than they had been for him.

Talarist pressed a kiss to her hair. “How long have you known?”

She withdrew slightly from his embrace so she could look at him. “Only a month ago. I knew you would already be on your way back or I would’ve written you. Julianna and Selene have never had children of their own, and Aunt Lucille said she had thrown up every morning with each of her three. It took Charlotte to figure out what was really going on.” Elodie shook her head as if she was exasperated by her own short-sightedness. After all they had been married for two years now, a pregnancy was not the most unusual occurrence.

He pushed a strand over her hair behind her ear and his chest seemed like it was about to burst with the love and affection he felt for her. Not only was she going to be alright but they were going to have a child soon, their child. “My gift certainly pales in comparison to yours. “

“Well, my ‘gift’ will take a few more months to arrive. Is that true of yours as well?” A mischievous spark had entered her eyes.

“Only if the monkey escaped and it takes moths to re-capture him.”

Elodie’s eyes lit up. “A monkey! Is he in the carriage you came with?” Before he could answer, she was already pulling him towards the front entrance.

“Should you – “He was about to ask when she glared at him over her shoulder. “Lead the way.”

Elodie loved all animals, so she was delighted with the monkey he had brought. It was by far not the first exotic pet he had brought and as he watched her giggle and laugh as the monkey climbed all over her, Talarist knew it wouldn’t be the last one either.


End file.
